Tuesday, July 29, 2003

If anyone doubts that the criminal tactics of the American
occupation force in Iraq are causing it problems, consider this report from Max
Rodenbeck on the current occupant of Chemical Ali's palace. This is a
guy who

... had spent many years in exile, hounded by Saddam's
agents. His joy at the toppling of the Baath Party was apparent. He
gushed about the debt of gratitude which he said all Iraqis should
feel toward America. He professed deep respect for the local American
commanding officer, a man he met with regularly. But did he trust the
Americans? No.

With what consequence? This long-time exile was personally
shielding Ezzat Ibrahim, a deputy of Saddam and the King of Clubs in
the Pentagon's deck, from the occupiers. And while he didn't cop to
that himself (his bodyguard had loose lips), he freely acknowledged
knowing the locations of others:

"Why don't I tell the Americans? Because I am a son of
Iraq and my children will be raised here. Perhaps in future I would be
judged a traitor."

He paused, pushing away an empty coffee cup. "Look, fugitives from
the old regime are being sheltered by tribes that owe them favors. It
is not simply a matter of honor, or fear of retribution. The real
problem is that the Americans won't say what they plan to do with
their 'pack of cards.' Will they send them to Guantánamo? Will
they just let them go? If we knew that these bloody criminals would be
tried here by an Iraqi court, it would be a different story."

This article also blows up the neoconservative talking point that
no one could have expected the chaos of postwar Iraq, pointing out
that "Before the war, virtually every foreign policy think tank warned
of the difficulty of reconstruction." (There's an impressive list of
citations in a footnote). It's not all doom and gloom, by the way;
Rodenbeck suggests that Bremer may be getting his act together, at
long last. But it makes plain that we have a dug ourselves a very
deep hole, and we'll be a long while getting back to the surface.
Well worth reading.